Inui fluffs lines in front of Zaccheroni

FRANKFURT – Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Takashi Inui once again proved to be a handful for opponents on Sunday but blew an opportunity to score in his fourth consecutive match in the newly promoted Bundesliga club’s 2-1 victory at home over Freiburg.

With Japan manager Alberto Zaccheroni in the stands, Inui got behind Freiburg’s defense for a one-on-one in the first half with keeper Oliver Baumann. But after running nearly half the field and latching on to a through ball, Inui shot straight at the goalkeeper. The failure proved costly in the 50th minute, when the visitors opened their account with a goal by Max Kruse.

“If you don’t score in that situation, you let the team down,” said Inui whose exploits had led to a special feature in a local newspaper and a visit from Zaccheroni.

“I thought I’d just ignore all that and just play my game, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

Inui did find the net, but from an offside position, and the goal was disallowed.